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1.
Mateo Kaspar(86%, 8.94, -0.03)
Slowly returning to the mortal realm. His on-court results dispute that conclusion.
2.
Ritwik Dudwadkar(89%, 8.83, +0.02)
This equals the best mark of Dudwadkar's career, two years ago. He's at the tail-end of his prime, and it's rather quite astonishing that he still couldn't dent Kaspar at all.
3.
Guus Dircx(86%, 8.62, -0.05)
4.
Hsuang-tsung Teng(87%, 8.45, -0.08)
Looks like the allure of doubles is starting to draw Teng. All of the top players with the exception of Dudwadkar are unambigiously past their best tennis, and yet they remain clearly the Top 4. That's a testament to just how good they have been. I'm not even certain this is the year that situation changes.
5.
Gregory Mackenzie(91%, 8.44, +0.08)
A solid year of improving after a disappointing one the year before, and on the court Mackenzie moved through traffic 10 spots from 15th. He's got a chance to surpass Teng but I think the odds aren't great. Maybe 1 in 3.
6.
Dick Blake(91%, 8.34, -0.03)
More classically trained, in contrast to Mackenzie's focus on the serve, Blake lacks power compared to most top players. He's significantly up from 11th a year ago, but it's a real question whether or not his ascent ends at this point.
7.
Stuart Pargeter(94%, 8.31, +0.14)
A nice year off the court obviously, and Pargeter holds a significant edge over his slightly-more-accomplished compatriots; he's got at least a year in development time on them, while Blake & Mackenzie are in their prime right now. That's also another year waiting for the Top 4 to further decline. Pargeter seems certain to ascend at least one more level into that elite quartet himself. Another calendar of preparation first though, most likely. After starting the yeaer 24th, he's feeling quite good about himself.
8.
Cristian Castegali(92%, 8.31, +0.01)
Two years ago Castegali wasn't even on the radar. Last year he was 17th, this year he made the Tour Finals. I think that train ends here, but it is interesting to see the first four guys remain intact while the second four are completely replaced. I'm quite sure that's a quirk I've not seen before. In general this group should all be improving, so they ought to remain relatively stable and put increasing pressure on the top guys. How much pressure exactly is hard to say. Only Teng really looks vulnerable at this point.
9.
Matthew Panter(87%, 8.30, -0.03)
Panter is another declining player, yet he pushed his way to new heights(7th at one point, 12th a year ago). The improvements of the players just above him seems to have passed him by though -- it was a short-lived moment in the sun.
10.
Karl Kaspar(97%, 8.39, +0.23)
Only a three-spot jump in the rankings, but what Kaspar Jr. here did off the court is a lot more important and impressive. His merely-average mental abilities will hold him back some, but he's already no worse than third in the world when it comes to technical skills. Karl seems a shoo-in for this year's WTF, and the question about him taking over for Mateo at #1 someday is looking a lot more like a 'when' than an 'if'.
11.
Gilberto Chinaglia(93%, 8.25, +0.11)
Rare to see a guy drop two spots and out of the Top 10 with this kind of improvement, but objectively it was a regression to where he belongs. Chinaglia is the only player currently in striking range of getting back on the first page soon, and he's far from done. Panter is an obvious target for him, and I expect him to be a fixture in the 8-10 range for a couple years at least.
13.
Hamal Sbai(95%, 8.61, +0.17)
Sbai continues to progress much better in his abilities than he does on the court; up some from 20th but he should be ranked higher. A weak serve is at least part of the reason, but he counters that with the fact that only Dudwadkar is better from the back of the court. Among higher-ranking players, only the younger Kaspar is younger. On paper he's the world's 4th-best, and nearly third with Dircx just a hair ahead. It's time for the best Moroccan ever in the global tennis competition to start playing like it.
15.
Prakash Mooljee
16.
Martin Zarco
Didn't bother evaluating their current abilities, but it's worth noting these two veterans as they fade from the game.
17.
Serge Cardone(93%, 7.99, ??)
It seems almost a sacrilege to speak of French players without the last name of Kaspar. But here's one worth noting. And I do really like the name 'Serge'. He's also the best player who was still in Challenger ranks a year ago, so this is a true introduction. As his score here suggests, there's nothing particularly special about him. Solid from the back but not at the elite level, good mental game, limited athleticism and subpar serve by these standards. Definitely looks to be over-ranked. But he has a cool name, so there's always that.
19.
Ruben Piazzola
Falling like a rock. Only 26 but already past his prime -- the meteoric career path being demonstrated here(take note, Edleman!
).
21.
Chad Duncan(96%, 7.88, ??)
Another newcomer, and this one from the British Isles. Another one not really worth noting, at least not yet. Younger than Cardone, he's got a quality serve but too much time spent on doubles and not enough on his all-court game. Pretty slow and not known for his mental prowess either. So at the top levels, he's got a powerful, accurate serve. And that's all. Not enough. He does start a veritable wave of the new generation though.
23.
Damian Cortecedo(91%, 7.93, ??)
First, and possibly last, go-round for Cortecedo on the rundown here. Too much doubles, not enough athleticism, and he's already near his peak. Really the walking, breathing dictionary definition of a journeyman.
24.
Hugo Cordova(95%, 8.03, +0.17)
A nice season of improvement, and up a few spots from 30th. Cordova continues to be a fascinating experiement; he has one of if not the best serves ever seen, at a very high price to the rest of his game.
25.
Veini Aikio(96%, 8.03, ??)
Aikio matches up well with Cordova. He's also serve-heavy, though not to as much of an extreme. They are nearly copies of each other.
27.
Lucas Kaspar(97%, 7.76, ??)
Abandoned after creation, this cast-off Kaspar is still good enough to now force his way up. He'll only go as far as his technique and talent can take him, lacking the athletic ability to be a transcendent player.
28.
Stanley Edleman(98%, 7.95, +0.16)
For one week a few months back, Edleman was actually surpassed by Chiba in the rankings. That gap has now widened, but it's a temporary thing. That's particularly true with Edleman now past his physical peak. He's still got much he can do on the pro tour though, as he's reached the elite tier faster than any of his generational rivals and is the top-ranking player of his age.
29.
Henri Sorel(95%, 7.70, ??)
A poor man's Cordova. Looks like the tour is going back serve-bot philosophy, at least in part. It's not a good look.
30.
Tristan Allende(95%, 8.34, ??)
Allende is a horse of a different color. Technically pretty well-balanced, quite fast with decent strength and mental ability, he's got Top 10 player written all over him unlike most of the other youngsters. I expect Allende to rise above, as he's borderline-Top 10 material right now. A big year for him I would think is upcoming, and he'll be a significant foil for Chiba for at least a while.
41.
Sushant Chiba(99%, 7.98, +0.29)
This comports with his positioning as one of the top handful of Challenger players in the world. He's also surpassed Edleman is theoretical ability by a hair. Call it even for now. It's time to graduate yet another Sri Lankan to the elite class. There will be two chances to do so early, with a big challenger and the Australian Open first up on the docket. Right now Chiba has just over 84% of the required points(short just over 200) to make the Top 32. The 17 players closest ahead of him are all either 29 and above, or 24 and below. 7 are in the older category, but he still needs pass other improving players to reach his next goal, which largely explains why he hasn't done so yet. Of course there is also the fact that he's too slow to deal with top serves effectively, and so he must compensate in other ways.
As can be seen, Chiba and Edleman have the abilities right now to be in the 15-20 range. They just have to work their way up through the pack.
233.
Anil Mehul(58%, 6.59)
Seems I neglected to calculate him last year.
333(J).
Amrik Kasaravalli(69%, 3.06)
Just starting to increase skill to the normal ratio, as the initial serve investment is now complete.